September 30, 2014
Fredericton blogger Charles LeBlanc is suing the City of Fredericton for more than $60,000. He alleges in his statement of claim that the Fredericton Police Force sought retaliation after LeBlanc videotaped a controversial police takedown.
Photo: Stephen MacGillivray/The Daily Gleaner archive
Controversial blogger and anti-poverty activist Charles LeBlanc is suing the City of Fredericton over what he claims is retaliation by the police force for his role in the prosecution of a constable.
LeBlanc filed a notice of action and statement of claim in the Court of Queen’s Bench in January, seeking damages in excess of $60,000.
He claims members of the Fredericton Police Force turned their attention to him after he recorded three officers using force to effect an arrest in the city’s downtown bar district in July 2009.
That video and other information led to the prosecution of Const. Stephen Stafford for assault, a charge of which he was acquitted in June 2011.
“The plaintiff contends that the Fredericton Police Force began to target him after the trial was concluded because of his incriminating video and corroborating testimony,” LeBlanc’s statement of claim says.
The document details a number of contentious encounters between the blogger and city police officers i the weeks following Stafford’s acquittal, including being fined $29 for cycling without a helmet 17 days after the acquittal; being fined $140 for cycling on the sidewalk about a month after the acquittal; and being issued a bylaw infraction and being arrested in September 2011 for his protest outside the city police station.
LeBlanc pleaded guilty to the criminal disturbance charge and was sentenced to probation. The same week, city police raided his downtown apartment, seized computer equipment and charged him with criminal libel for comments he made on his blog about city police officers.
The provincial attorney general’s office opted not to proceed with that libel charge, citing decisions from other jurisdictions that found the charge to be unconstitutional.
The statement of claim also contends the city police purposely misled LeBlanc’s Internet service provider in its effort to obtain information in the libel investigation by referring to child sexual exploitation in a document filed with the provider.
“The plaintiff claims that the Fredericton Police Force intimidated him, placed a chill on his freedom of expression, invaded his privacy, violated his constitutional rights…” the document states.
LeBlanc is seeking $50,000 in damages for the alleged breaches of his rights, $10,000 for emotional distress and any other damages and costs to be determined by the court.
The city filed a statement of defence earlier this year, denying LeBlanc’s claims of harassment, unjust targeting by the police and violations of his rights.
The statement of claim also notes that after he was fined for cycling on the sidewalk – which was based on a complaint filed with the police by New Brunswick legislature Sgt.-at-Arms Dan Bussieres – LeBlanc went to the police with photographic evidence of jaywalking infractions committed by provincial politicians in the capital.
LeBlanc says the police department’s refusal to issue tickets and fines to those officials amounts to proof the force has it out for him.
But the city’s statement of defence points out LeBlanc brought those jaywalking complaints forward months after they were alleged to have occurred. Furthermore, it contends the photographic evidence showed the blogger was just as guilty of the infraction he was alleging on the politicians’ part.
“The plaintiff was walking alongside at least one of the individuals at the time of the incident; accordingly, he too, was jaywalking,” the defence statement says, noting another one of the politicians was crossing the street to get away from LeBlanc.
“The plaintiff’s complaint was seen as a retaliation or protest against the justice system, given its timing, and was not made in good faith.”
LeBlanc’s own statement of claim confirms he filed the jaywalking complaint to make a point about discrimination based on social status.
In its statement of defence, the city said the police force’s inclusion of a reference to a child sexual exploitation investigation in its written communication with the Internet service provider was a clerical error.
None of the allegations LeBlanc makes in his statement of claim has been proven in court.
No date has been set to hear the lawsuit.

City drops Fredericton blogger’s bylaw charge
One of controversial Fredericton blogger Charles LeBlanc’s court battles is at an end, with the city’s withdrawal Wednesday of a bylaw infraction against him.

LeBlanc, 56, of 1-145 Westmorland St., had been accused of violating a city bylaw by riding his bicycle on a sidewalk July 30, and the matter was back in provincial court Wednesday at the city’s request.

City solicit Chantal Gauthier said the city had decided to withdraw the charge “due to circumstances beyond the city’s control.”

She didn’t elaborate on what those circumstances were.

Judge Mary Jane Richards granted the motion and told LeBlanc, who didn’t address the court, that he was free to go.

Outside the Justice Building on Wednesday, the blogger and anti-poverty activist told reporters while he was pleased the matter was at an end, he also wished he’d gotten his day in court.

LeBlanc said with the help of “a special friend” whom he declined to identify, he planned to mount a constitutional challenge to the city bylaw, arguing it violated Charter rights and wasn’t properly enacted under provincial legislation.

He also contended he was unfairly targeted by the city police, given his tumultuous history with police officers in Fredericton.

The main catalyst for the antagonistic relationship, LeBlanc said, was his decision to record a violent arrest in downtown Fredericton a few years ago.

That video was ultimately used as evidence in the trial of a Fredericton police officer who was charged with assault as a result, and that officer was acquitted.

LeBlanc also told reporters bylaws about cycling in Fredericton are discriminatory against the poor, as they tend to rely on bicycles as a mode of transport.

Alycia Bartlett, spokeswoman for the City of Fredericton’s public safety department, referred questions about the case and LeBlanc’s allegations to Gauthier in the city’s legal department.

The Daily Gleaner tried to contact Gauthier for comment, but city communications manager Wayne Knorr responded.

“For personal reasons, some witnesses were not going to be available for the trial date on April 11 and were not expected to be available anytime in the near term,” he wrote in an email Thursday.
“As a result the case was withdrawn.”

When asked about LeBlanc’s allegations against the city police force, Knorr responded, “As for Mr. LeBlanc’s accusations, that would be his personal opinion.”

Also troubling about the bylaw case, LeBlanc said, was the fact it arose from a third-party complaint and that he was ticketed almost two months after the incident and that the police never asked him about his side of the story.

“They do not investigate,” LeBlanc said of the Fredericton Police Force. “They go by third-party complaint.”

The bylaw ticket was for a $50 fine, he said.

LeBlanc contended the police don’t enforce the cycling bylaws uniformly, giving some a pass for infractions while others, such as himself, get targeted.

“Enforce the law against everybody, not just me,” he said.

The blogger said he’s not above the law and would have no problem if the police pursued him for a real offence.
LeBlanc has a trial on a summary assault charge coming up in May, and he feels that’s another instance of the city police treating him unfairly and pursuing a bogus complaint.

“If you think this was bad, wait ‘til you see the assault charge coming out in May,” he told reporters.
LeBlanc has maintained the Fredericton Police Force holds a grudge against him and that’s one of the reasons he’s been charged with a summary count of assault, alleging an incident involving Andrew Spencer on July 3, 2014.
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Redmond Shannon from CBC -

A controversial Fredericton blogger claimed another victory against the city on Wednesday.

The City of Fredericton dropped a $50 bylaw ticket against Charles LeBlanc for allegedly riding his bicycle on a sidewalk last summer.

Charles LeBlanc, Fredericton blogger

Charles LeBlanc alleges in court documents that he's being unfairly targeted by some members of the Fredericton Police Force. (Redmond Shannon/CBC)

A lawyer for the city told a provincial court judge it was withdrawn due to "circumstances beyond the city's control."

City spokesman Wayne Knorr later explained in an email to CBC News the case was abandoned because "some witnesses were not going to be available for the trial date on April 11, and were not expected to be available any time in the near term."

But LeBlanc told reporters outside the courthouse he believes it's because he had challenged the City's ability to apply provincial law to sidewalks, and had alleged constitutional and charter violations by the City and police.

"The City appears to have acted beyond its legislated powers, by creating its own definition of 'street' and regulating the use of sidewalks, to prohibit cyclists from using the only safe alternative to the road," LeBlanc alleged in documents filed with the provincial court.

The provincial Motor Vehicle Act and Municipalities Act both define streets as areas designated for the passage and parking of vehicles, and exclude sidewalks, the documents state. Vehicles are referred to as self-propelled, not moved by human power.

"These acts do not have or give authority to regulate sidewalks travelled by cyclists. Since the City's powers only come from legislation the City has no authority in law to regulate cyclists on sidewalks."

The Motor Vehicle Act also requires municipalities to post signs, informing the public of any prohibitions enacted by bylaw under the act and no signs prohibiting cycling on the sidewalk are posted, the documents state.

In addition, the act, which appears to date back to 1960, stipulates: "Wherever a usable path for bicycles has been provided adjacent to a roadway, bicycle riders shall use such path and shall not use the roadway."

"Since the City has no authority to regulate use of the sidewalks regarding cyclists, and has not provided any safe alternatives, sidewalks equate to usable paths for cyclists and the Applicant is entitled to cycle," LeBlanc argued in the documents.

The bylaw also discriminates against cyclists and those on low income, the documents claim.
Disputes with police date back to 2009

LeBlanc also alleges he is being harassed by members of the Fredericton Police Force over a history of disputes and two civil actions he filed against the City in 2014 and 2015, which are still before the court.

The force's spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday. Knorr said only: "I believe that would be Mr. LeBlanc's personal opinion."

"FPF officers have previously issued tickets to the Applicant which appears to be for the purpose of targeting him, in retaliation for negative blog comments" and for videotaping the arrest of an off-duty soldier in 2009, which led to one of the arresting officers being charged with assault, but subsequently acquitted.

Since then, LeBlanc has faced two other bylaw tickets. One of them was dropped and LeBlanc ended up pleading guilty to disturbing the peace outside the police station.

LeBlanc was also charged with libel against a police officer before police seized a computer from his home, but that charge was dropped.

Two years ago, the City had LeBlanc's blog shut down, after he made a racial slur against an officer. He started a new blog shortly afterwards.

In May, he is scheduled to return to court to face an assault charge in connection with an incident in 2014.

LeBlanc "believes the City is attempting every way possible to convict [him] of anything they can to undermine his civil suits," the court documents state.

He also argued the City and the Fredericton Police Force were in conflicts of interests because of the ongoing civil actions.

The bylaw ticket stemmed from an incident on July 30, when a man claimed to have been almost struck by LeBlanc from behind while walking on a King Street sidewalk around 2:20 p.m.

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